The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has just announced the White House’s new proposal to maintain American women’s access to contraception without co-pays while appeasing employers who object to providing such insurance on religious grounds.

The new rules would expand what organizations can qualify for the previously-established religious exemption but, like previous iterations of the policy, shifts the cost of the coverage to insurers rather than birth control users.

Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, expressed tentative approval of the proposal. She said in a statement:

This policy delivers on the promise of women having access to birth control without co-pays no matter where they work. Of course, we are reviewing the technical aspects of this proposal, but the principle is clear and consistent. This policy makes it clear that your boss does not get to decide whether you can have birth control.

The Obama administration today issued proposed rules for public comment regarding contraceptive coverage with no cost sharing under the health care law. The proposed rules provide women with coverage for preventive care that includes contraceptive services with no co-pays, while also respecting the concerns of some religious organizations.

Today’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking reflects public feedback received through the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in March 2012. In addition, these proposed rules are open for public comment through April 8, 2013.

“Today, the administration is taking the next step in providing women across the nation with coverage of recommended preventive care at no cost, while respecting religious concerns,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “We will continue to work with faith-based organizations, women’s organizations, insurers and others to achieve these goals.”

The proposed rules lay out how non-profit religious organizations, such as non-profit religious hospitals or institutions of higher education, that object to contraception on religious grounds can receive an accommodation that provides their enrollees separate contraceptive coverage, and with no co-pays, but at no cost to the religious organization.

With respect to insured plans, including student health plans, these religious organizations would provide notice to their insurer. The insurer would then notify enrollees that it is providing them with no-cost contraceptive coverage through separate individual health insurance policies.

With respect to self-insured plans, as well as student health plans, these religious organizations would provide notice to their third party administrator. In turn, the third party administrator would work with an insurer to arrange no-cost contraceptive coverage through separate individual health insurance policies.

Insurers and third party administrators would work to ensure a seamless enrollment process.

The proposed rules lay out how the costs of both the insurer and the third party administrator would be covered, without any charge to either the religious organization or the enrollees.

Additionally, the proposed rules simplify and clarify the definition of “religious employer” for purposes of the exemption from the contraceptive coverage requirement. These employers, primarily houses of worship, can exclude contraception coverage from their health plans for their employees.

New Haven, CT

Alexandra Brodsky is an editor at Feministing.com, student at Yale Law School, and founding co-director of Know Your IX, a national legal education campaign against campus gender-based violence. Alexandra has written for publications including the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Guardian, and the Nation, and she has spoken about violence against women and reproductive justice on MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, and NPR. Through Know Your IX, she has organized with students across the country to build campuses free from discrimination and violence, developed federal policy on Title IX enforcement, and has testified at the Senate. At Yale Law, Alexandra focuses on antidiscrimination law and is a member of the Veterans Legal Services Clinic. Alexandra is committed to developing and strengthening responses to gender-based violence outside the criminal justice system through writing, organizing, and the law. Keep an eye out for The Feminist Utopia Project, co-edited by Alexandra and forthcoming from the Feminist Press (2015).

Alexandra Brodsky is an editor at Feministing.com, student at Yale Law School, and founding co-director of Know Your IX.

The conservative attacks on Planned Parenthood just keep coming. Using the Center for Medical Progress’s undercover videos — the third of which was released today — as their excuse, anti-choicers in Congress have renewed their long-time goal of defunding the organization, fast-tracking a bill to do so last week. Anti-Planned Parenthood rallies are taking place in multiple cities today. And yesterday anti-choice hackers attempted an attack on Planned Parenthood’s information systems. They claim to have gotten employee names and emails and are threatening to reveal the organization’s internal emails.

While the FBI is investigating the breach, it’s so far unclear the hackers have actually accessed the information they claim to. But, as reproductive rights activist and ...

The conservative attacks on Planned Parenthood just keep coming. Using the Center for Medical Progress’s undercover videos — the third of which was released today — as their excuse, anti-choicers in Congress have renewed their long-time goal of ...

The latest undercover “sting” video seeking to discredit Planned Parenthood is here. In this selectively edited video, a group called the Center for Medical Progress charges that the reproductive health clinics are “selling” fetal tissue and organs.

The person behind the Center for Medical Progress, a group of self-described “citizen journalists” monitoring medical ethics which didn’t seem to be doing much until it launched its “investigation” into Planned Parenthood, is the former research director for Live Action, the anti-choice group that put out similarly misleading videos targeting the organization over sex-selective abortions and sex-trafficking.

The latest undercover “sting” video seeking to discredit Planned Parenthood is here. In this selectively edited video, a group called the Center for Medical Progress charges that the reproductive health clinics are “selling” fetal tissue and organs.

You may have heard of LARC — Long-Acting Reversible Contraception — but maybe not by that name. LARCs include IUDs (which you can read more about here), as well as the contraceptive implant. If becoming pregnant isn’t in your plan for the next year (or three, or five), using a LARC method is easier, more effective, and more affordable than shorter-acting birth control methods like the pill.

If you’ve never heard of the contraceptive implant (also known under its brand name Nexplanon), it’s a tiny rod (smaller than a match stick) made of a soft plastic. The implant is placed in a discreet location under the skin on your inner ...

This post was originally published on the Community site.

You may have heard of LARC — Long-Acting Reversible Contraception — but maybe not by that name. LARCs include IUDs (which you can read more about here), ...